Was there any Democratic candidate/team that would have beat Bush?

[Tatiana]

Back during the primaries, I vacillated between Clark and Dean, originally for Dean, then moving towards Clark once he entered the race. Could Dean or Clark have done better? Would they have been more competitive in the South? I know, hindsight is 20/20, and I think Kerry ran the best campaign he could, but these and many more questions are running through my mind. Will we only be able to win a national election with a candidate from the South?

We have GOT to develop a Southern strategy, in my opinion.

[sandersadu]

1. Edwards/Clark or Clark/Edwards

This was the team.

[killbotfactory]

2. I thought a Dean/Clark ticket would have whooped Bush's ass

The democratic party disagreed with me.

We'll never really know.

[derbstyron]

3. Clark/Edwards

[jdj]

4. NO. NO. NO. NO.

rigged machines don't discriminate, honey.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. You got it!

-----------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT! Take this country back one town and state at a time!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[City Lights]

7. Thank you!

Will the Dems ever address this issue? If not, it's game over for them.

[Tatiana]

13. I agree, to a certain extent.

However that doesn't explain the thousands of counties using paper (punch-card) ballots that went for Bush. A co-worker told me today at work that she couldn't stand either Bush or Kerry, but she and her husband voted for Bush because they didn't "like" Kerry and because Kerry didn't know what his own positions on the issues were.

I know that isn't true, you know it isn't true, but that's what MILLIONS of Americans believed. I tend to think of those people, many of who were dissatisfied with Bush, as the "go for the devil you know" voters. Kerry failed to win those people over. Yes, there were definitely some election fraud going on, but the fact that this race was so tight was what enabled the Rethugs to get away with it.

[Mandate My Ass]

20. Rigged machines, voter fraud, intimidation, challengers, provisional ballo

Fox calling it for Bush before Ohio had finished voting etc. etc. etc.

But people will wring their hands and say "oh it must have been who we picked." :eyes:

[ogradda]

21. i agree

that's it in a nutshell.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. I Think Clark/Edwards Could Have Won...

Clark got destroyed because he was a dilletante...


If 08 is a another "fear" election he will be a good choice...

[dolstein]

Clark/Edwards plus $200 million might have won

I think Clark on paper measured up well against Bush. But there's still the problem of money. I'm not sure any Democrat could have competed against Bush unless they opted out of the primary system.

[rowire]

8. Michael Moore Should Run For Office

Michael Moore should run for office. He is exactly the type of person we need. He would throw aside the niceaties of campaigning and call the repugs what they are -- murdering, thieving, lying, sacks of shit.

I'm serious. What would be wrong with a Michael Moore/ Ben Affleck ticket. It would draw millions of young new voters to the party. We need to think boldly, not the same old "southern Democrat" schtick.

[iwantmycountryback]

10. That'd be fun

But we'd lose. We already have enough trouble with any Republican-leaning states. Maybe Moore could run for the House in Michigan or something though.

[mtnester]

12. Uh, can I tap dance and remind everyone that RONALD REAGAN

was a two bit actor who got elected president? Whay would Michael Moore or Ben Afleck have less of a chance?

Just thinking outloud

[Spiffarino]

9. No fucking way

Rove is the king of slime and smear. He'll make your sweet little granny look like Jack the Ripper. Unless we fight him on his terms, we are through as a party.

They will use any trick, any lie, any distortion, to win an election. This is about power, and they are winning because that's all they want and they will go to any lengths to get it. Time to take off the gloves and beat the holy shit out of these bastards.

[WCGreen]

11. Clark and Landdrieu......

Both from the South....

The progressive at the top...

The conservative as the Vice.....

Baptist and Catholic.....

Both Pro Choice....

Both Pro Military....

That was my dream ticket....

[The Chronicler]

14. Clark - Nunn (nm)

[lark]

15. Pre-determined

There is no Democrat that could have won the election - none. It was rigged to the max and nothing was going to change that - nothing! The touch screen machines were their ace in the holes and they came thru beautifully, discounting the Dem votes in S. FL.

They couldn't allow a Dem in the Whitehouse. There's too much info that could be used to put the lot of them in jail. They can't extort money and power if they aren't in control. They can't eliminate Medicare, Social Security, Welfare, Medicaid, etc. if they don't have the power.

We are now officially a third world nation. Lincoln, Washington and many of the rest are now rolling in their graves. I'm ashamed to an American!

lark

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. NO!

we did it right and did it well..just because we didnt win that doesnt mean kerry wasnt the best candidate...cos he really was

[onecent]

17. What I would like to know is WHEN can we ever beat the Republicans?

Another 4 years will just make them stronger and their stealing methods will have improved tenfold. What's to EVER stop them?

[lastliberalintexas]

18. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I said in another thread, Kerry did not lose this- the fundies won it. And now will expect payback from the country club party...

[Baja Margie]

19. No,

no combination would work. You are dealing with a mass group of people in the USA who are living in an unrealistic world. The GOP's know this, sold them a line of BS, scared them even more to the point of paralyzation and got their vote.Row knew exactly what he was doing and how to psychologically manipulate these people. Same thing Hitler did. Fear, fear, fear, and a sense of false nationalistic pride. It's an old proven formula that works time and time again.

It would have been the same.

So now you know what all those millions are about, plus the religious factor. All those states Bush took, man, that's the new biblebelt of America.

America is pretty fucked up.

[TheWebHead]

22. maybe Vilsack instead of Edwards

but I still believe Kerry was our best choice based on the experience on foreign policy required post 9.11 and during an Iraq war.. This is if we're talking about only those that ran in the primaries, as I kinda think Biden could have done better because he's pretty resolute to deflect that criticism Kerry was pummeled with.

[discopants]

23. I believe Kerry/Edwards already did.

The question needs to be how are we going to get an honest election.

[colonel odis]

26. bingo

[jacksonian]

24. definitely Kerry/Clark

Clark would have mitigated the Swift Boat, weak defense thing and saved Kerry August, might even have played better in the South. He would have swung Ohio, definitely. The values thing.

[GreenArrow]

27. Clark also would have played better in the Southwest

He would have helped give us an even better chance in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado. He certainly couldn't have been any more ineffective in the South than Edwards was.

[Fla Dem]

29. Yes, that combo might have worked better. But Kerry was the best. n/t

[GreenArrow]

25. Kerry/Clark

Edwards was a bad, bad choice, and that isn't just hindsight. Consider if he had stayed put and defended his Senate seat. We could use it. But at this point, it doesn't make any difference.

[Orangepeel]

28. Not one that was pro-choice and not anti-gay (n/t)